


Alone in a Crowd

by quiet__tiger



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 07:33:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10849374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiet__tiger/pseuds/quiet__tiger
Summary: A newly-orphaned Dick is having trouble adjusting.





	Alone in a Crowd

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Small World."
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal 15th-Sep-2011.

Dick wasn’t sure he was ever going to get used to it.

The kids in school staring when he turned his back.

Teachers and administrators giving him sad looks when he needed something from them.

People scrutinizing him when they saw him on the street, until they realized why he looked familiar and then their expressions varied between uncertainty and sadness and anger.

But he was just a kid, and he couldn’t help what had happened to his family. And he couldn’t help that Bruce Wayne had decided to become his guardian.

Trudging into the kitchen after returning from another long day at his new school, Dick didn’t notice Bruce was in the room until he said hello. Dick jumped a mile and may have squeaked a little, but managed a shaky, “Hi.”

Tilting his head, Bruce looked him up and down. Considering how standoffish Bruce had been since Dick had come to the Manor, Dick wasn’t used to so much attention on him from the giant man standing in front of him now. “Dick, are you all right?”

“Just a long day.”

“Are they all long? And by ‘long’ do you mean difficult?”

Maybe Bruce was trying to be understanding, but he sounded more robotic. “I don’t like the way people look at me. And everyone acts like they know me even though I don’t know any of them. I feel like… I don’t know.” And he didn’t; Dick was feeling frustration that he couldn’t quite put into words.

“The attention will diminish. Soon all your schoolmates will just think of you as Dick, and not ‘the new kid’ or ‘the circus brat’ or ‘the Wayne guy.’” At Dick’s raised eyebrows, Bruce replied, “Alfred told me some of your worries and about some things that have been happening.”

Bruce pulled out two stools from the breakfast bar, and sat in one while motioning for Dick to do the same. After climbing up, Dick stared at his fingers. He wasn’t sure what was prompting this heart-to-heart from his guardian.

“Alfred is concerned about you letting the opinions and feelings of others hinder you. I know you’re having a difficult time with all that’s happened to you. I know exactly how you’re feeling. …Well, to a certain extent, as I remained in my home and wasn’t uprooted the way you were.” Bruce was silent until Dick looked up at him. “You will once again be that free-spirited boy on the trapeze, even if you no longer have the trapeze. Alfred and I will do whatever we can to make you comfortable and give you a home.”

“I don’t like the way people look at me, and you can’t fix that.”

“What is it about the looks that bother you?”

“I already _said_.” Bruce watched him, clearly waiting for Dick to continue. Stifling a sigh, he added, “People don’t know me. But I guess they’ve read the paper and seen the TV, and it’s like they all want to do or say something. I can’t get away from it. Like there’s nowhere I can go where people don’t know me.”

“Your world is getting smaller.” It was Dick’s time to cock his head, and Bruce gave him a tiny smile. “Once upon a time, you were a regular kid, albeit a kid who could fly. The whole world and your whole life ahead of you. Fast-forward a bit, and your world is turned upside down. And you don’t have the anonymity you used to have, that I imagine you crave so you can heal.”

Dick shrugged; he wasn’t good at feelings.

“None of that—I know you can communicate quite well. As I was saying, your world used to consist of the circus, and the people involved in the circus. There was no problem that everyone knew you, and _actually_ knew you. There was a whole world out there for you to explore one day. Then you wind up here, your world becoming Gotham City. It’s larger than the circus, but now you’ve been on the news and been in the papers. People do recognize you, and they will continue to do so. Your world to explore has become small.”

“Great, I’ll be the news of the century for the rest of my life.”

“Another sensationalistic story will be penned soon, and you will be below the fold if on the front page at all. And I will do what I can to keep your name from the tabloids.”

“It’s just, like, I always wondered what my life would be like outside of the circus. And now I know and it’s full of people staring at me. And acting like they know me, when no one does. And I’m just so lonely…”

Dick fought tears but lost as they dripped down his cheeks. “I just want to do things my way, or make them back the way they were, and I don’t want people looking at me all day, not without my costume.”

Bruce placed a hand on Dick’s shoulder in an attempt to be comforting. It was obvious Bruce was inexperienced. “I am here to help in any way I can. We’ll change your school, homeschool you, whatever you want.”

Shrugging again, Dick sniffled. “I guess.”

“I promise you’ll be able to explore on your own terms and fly again.” He sounded so sincere…

Dick looked up again. Bruce was smiling again, tiny but attempting to be encouraging. “Okay.”

“You will.” With another squeeze to his shoulder, Bruce left Dick alone in the kitchen. Dick wasn’t sure he felt better, and he wasn’t sure Bruce had figured out his problem, exactly, but maybe he was right. Things would get better eventually. They had to, right?

Shrugging to himself, Dick hopped down off the stool and raided the cabinet for cookies. Things would just be so much better if the people in Gotham couldn’t recognize him. But he couldn’t exactly wear a mask…

He’d just have to see how things would change, and if they’d get better. He could always run back to the circus if he had to.


End file.
